LOS ANGELES—Adult industry talent agency Direct Models announced Tuesday that it has prevailed in its legal challenge against the California Labor Commissioner, Lilia Garcia-Brower, to be granted a new provisional license after the Commissioner denied the agency's application for one following the expiration of its previous license on March 30, 2021.
The 15-page decision by Judge Howard W. Cohen of the Los Angeles Office of Administrative Hearings found that the Labor Commissioner abused her discretion when the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement decided not to issue Direct Models a new provisional license effective April 1, 2021.
A licensed talent agency in California since 2005, Direct Models applied for a renewal of its license in August 2018 and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement issued a provisional license while investigating the application. Subsequently, the DLSE filed a Statement of Issues against Direct Models, initiated by attorney Allan Gelbard. The DLSE continued to issue successive provisional licenses—maintaining Direct Models' licensed status—until the hearing it initiated could be completed.
Then, in April 2021, after nearly 30 months of provisional licenses, the DLSE reversed course and refused to issue Direct Models a new license, despite there being no changes in the licensing process, circumstances or situation. That action constituted an a de facto suspension of Direct Models’ Talent Agent License, effectively terminating the agency’s license for at least six months and denying it the right to continue conducting business as a talent agency.
Direct Models filed for a Writ of Mandate in Los Angeles County Superior Court, and a July 12, 2021 date before Judge Cohen was set. The Labor Commissioner was represented at the OAH hearing by Barton Jacka, an attorney with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, who mentioned on the record that it was he who made the decision to stop issuing licenses to Direct Models in April 2021.
Originally scheduled for a number of days, the hearing lasted only a few hours after Jacka provided insufficient evidence to demonstrate what facts the DLSE considered when it exercised its discretion not to issue another provisional license.
“Because the Commissioner offered no evidence to dispute that she issued sequential provisional licenses over the course of two years, and no evidence to show the Commissioner considered facts that would cause her to alter this pattern, there is no basis to support a finding that the Commissioner's denial of respondent's application for a further provisional license was not an abuse of discretion,” Judge Cohen wrote in his decision.
He further noted, “Although the Commissioner's exercise of discretion may be broader in granting or denying a provisional license than it is in granting or denying a license renewal, that discretion may still be abused. Issued without any factual basis, and while a Statement of Issues is pending a hearing that will, presumably, yield substantive findings in support of a decision, the Commissioner's denial without supporting evidence of a provisional license or a series of provisional licenses extending until a decision on the Statement of Issues case issues is and will continue to be an abuse of discretion.”
In conclusion, the ruling ordered: “The Commissioner shall immediately issue to respondent a provisional 90-day talent agency license, to be effective on the date issued.”
Direct Models’ attorney Richard Freeman commented, “We are extremely pleased that the erudite Administrative Law Judge recognized that the Labor Commissioner acted arbitrarily and capriciously in April, 2021 when she refused to issue a continuing (the 21st) Provisional License while the administrative process that the Labor Commissioner herself had initiated was pending. We appreciate that the ALJ saw the actions of the Labor Commissioner as a clear abuse of her discretion.
“It is indeed gratifying that the Labor Commissioner has been ordered to issue a further license to Direct Models as it combats her efforts to revoke its permanent license. We feel this is a positive sign of the good things to come for the agency as well as anyone doing business in California.”
Judge Cohen’s full decision may be found here.
